Before you head out on summer vacation or set off for the neighborhood pool, add another item to your packing list: a mobile health benefits app. Mobile apps are used to organize, communicate and entertain.

Mobile health apps for smartphones and tablets can be an invaluable resource to access healthcare information when you are on the go. Many people already are using smartphones to do exactly that.

According to the Pew Research Internet Project’s Mobile Health Survey in 2012, more than half of smartphone users gather health information on their phones, and Manhattan Research Cybercitizen Health’s survey last year found 38 percent of online smartphone users agree that the device is “essential” for finding health and medical information.